High school redesign is one of the most elusive reform challenges to date. This paper explains why personalized high schools are hard to get and keep in a traditional school district, and shows how they can be made much more broadly available through changes in policy and philanthropic investments. Drawing from examples of successful and…

Conant's "The American High School Today" (1959) conveyed his confidence in consolidation of smaller schools into comprehensive high schools. The book sparked criticism. Conant's personal papers reveal that his breezy optimism hid doubts, frustrations, and uncertainties. The contradiction in his views foreshadows the turbulent 1960s. (PB)

Presents five beliefs related to the small schools versus large schools debate: Differences matter more than similarities, a large building offers more opportunities, larger schools attract better teachers and administrators, small schools reflect provincial values, and what matters most is class size. Discusses two implications for advocates of…

The Comprehensive School Project, the benchmark in the steady trend toward diversification of the Thailand secondary school curriculum, is the focus of this paper. In the first part three stages of educational development are examined and discussed, followed by education in the present period, the 1960 national scheme of education, and the…

James Bryant Conant issued his famous report, "The American High School Today," in 1959, giving voice to a clear and influential reaffirmation of the comprehensive secondary school. Conant's vision in this, and in another work, "Slums and Suburbs" (1961) makes an interesting point of departure for consideration of the forces…

For more than a century, American educators and education policymakers have chosen sides in a great debate about the nature and function of American high schools. The origins of this long-running argument can be traced to 1893, when the influential Committee of Ten, a bluechip panel of educators, issued a report proposing that all public…